Gaylord pays tribute to hometown hero killed in the line of duty

September 07, 2010|Michael Jones Gaylord Herald Times staff writer

GAYLORD — During a moment of silence prior to the start of Gaylord High School’s home football opener Thursday to honor Staff Sgt. Matt West, a Gaylord High School graduate who died in the line of duty Monday in Afghanistan, “you could hear a pin drop,” observed Gaylord High’s head coach Mark Mendolia.

According to a Wednesday news release from the United States Department of Defense, West, 36, and four other soldiers, who were all stationed at Fort Carson in Colorado, died in the Arghandab River Valley in Afghanistan from wounds sustained when their unit was attacked with an improvised explosive device.

West was assigned to the 71st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group (EOD) and received EOD training for which he earned the Senior Explosive Ordnance Disposal badge, among other honors, including a Bronze Star.

Before Thursday night’s kickoff against John Glenn High School, Curt Chrencik addressed the crowd and related Sgt. West’s military record, which included tours of duty in Iraq and an earlier deployment to Afghanistan prior to his last Afghanistan tour which began in July.

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“It was a very moving thing,” Mendolia said of the brief tribute paid to West. “I knew about it and brought the team out early so they could participate. It was a very respectful thing. There was an absolute hush from the crowd.”

West, who enlisted in the United States Army in 2004, had last been living in Conover, Wis., prior to being stationed at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs where his wife, Carolyn, and their three children, sons Tyler, 4, and Joseph, 3, and daughter, Annaliese, 3 months, currently are living.

West’s parents, John and Marcia, formerly of Gaylord, now reside in Odessa, Texas.

West played football and baseball while attending Gaylord High School prior to his graduation in 1992 and was remembered by coaches as a hardworking young man, who, while not blessed with the physical size of a football player, “gave everything he could,” noted Chad Dutcher, who coached West at Gaylord High School and remembers the work ethic the young man brought to the team.

“Matt was part of our program in the late 1980s to 1991. My thought off the top is that he was everything we should strive to be. He was not a big kid, but he worked as hard as he could and gave everything he could.”

Dutcher said as a football player West “didn’t have the huge size you would associate with a football player. But, he was not a wisher like a lot of people, but a doer. He didn’t let his size bother him.

Dutcher recalled that although West weighed only around 135 pounds, he was always willing to do whatever it took to help the team — even if that meant playing offensive guard if called upon to do so.

“Matt played guard, defensive end, was an offensive receiver. He would do whatever you wanted him to do. I don’t think anyone ever heard a complaint from him.”

The last time Dutcher saw West was in the 1990s at West’s Pine Briar home before losing touch with the small in stature but big in heart young man.

“I had a good talk with him about school and college and after that I lost touch with him. I wasn’t surprised to learn that he had enlisted.

“He wasn’t afraid to put others first and he did it by giving his life. He walked the walk and talked the talk which is easy for most of us to say we would do something like that (enlist) and that we would be willing to give our life to our country. It’s quite another thing to do it, but Matt did.”

Dutcher went on to say of West that he had all the qualities you could wish for in an American.

“If he came to your house he was the kind of person you would readily welcome. If he dated your daughter you would be pleased. His living wasn’t about himself, but it was about us. He looked out for everyone else. He put his life on the line for us. He was a solid, young guy.”

West’s sister, Kristine Willis, who lives in Levering, said her brother received a bachelor’s degree from Northern Michigan University in 1997 and returned to Gaylord for several years after graduation.

Earlier this week she had made a request to the office of Gov. Jennifer Granholm to have the American flag flown at half staff across the state to honor her brother’s service to his county.

Debbie Whipple, spokesperson for Granholm, said her office is still in the process of determining whether West qualifies for the honor of having flags lowered here.

“We have residency issues we have to resolve right now before we can make a decision,” she said.

With West having lived in Wisconsin prior to being stationed at Fort Carson, Whipple said Michigan was still in the process of trying to determine whether the governor’s office could issue a proclamation to have flags lowered to honor West.

The family was unavailable for comment Thursday as to funeral and memorial arraignments for West, but his sister said the day after receiving notification of West’s combat death, the family had been considering burial at Arlington National Cemetery.

Anyone who wishes to send a card or letter of condolence to the West family may do so by sending them to the Gaylord Herald Times, 2058 S. Otsego Ave. Gaylord, Mich. 49735 and they will be forwarded to the family.